Rumours
of the death of the print magazine continue to spread, but there
seems to have been a revival in the fortunes of the horror film
press in the last few years, with several publications launching.
Admittedly, most have been pretty disappointing – too much
sloppy writing, bad design and misplaced self-congratulation all
round, I fear. But Exquisite Terror is something
rather different.

This A5 magazine feels very much like a throwback to the fanzines
of the 1970s – which is no bad thing. Those labours of love
provided a welcome antidote to cynically produced mainstream ‘monster
magazines’ of the time, with in-depth, serious articles
and few concessions to commercial aesthetics, and that is very
much the case here. Like those earlier mags, ET
is happy to use original artwork in lieu of illustrations –
though perhaps here it is a deliberate creative choice rather
than a lack of access to movie stills that could be reproduced
by low-cost printing methods – and the magazine utilises
plenty of white space, refusing to allow it’s small format
to become cluttered. Occasionally, it goes a little too far –
there are some completely blank pages – but in a world where
magazine pages seem determined to fill every single millimetre,
it’s oddly refreshing, and at times, it reminds me a little
of the very early editions of Cinefantastique.

As for the actual content – it’s an eclectic mix.
Issue 1 has features on Donald Sutherland’s 1970s work,
The Exorcist, Cold Fish and
Julia’s Eyes, while issue 2 is less film
centred, covering the darker side of fairy tales, the Mexican
Day of the Dead and Clive Barker. Carefully compiled by editor
Naila Scargill, each issue therefore seems to have its own distinct
identity.

Not for everyone, certainly – if you crave articles on the
latest Hollywood horrors, this won’t be your bag at all.
But genre fans looking for interesting, sometimes provocative
features on the fringe elements of the genre will find much to
enjoy here.